Afrobeats superstar David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has opened a new window into the tense final hours of the Osun governorship election, claiming that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote contacted him as his social media updates on the poll gathered national attention.
Davido said he refused requests to delete his posts until the Independent National Electoral Commission formally announced the result, insisting that he was determined to continue publicising developments from polling units and the collation process.
The singer made the claims during an interview with News Central TV on Tuesday while recounting his involvement in the election won by his uncle, Governor Ademola Adeleke.
According to Davido, pressure intensified as results were being collated and his posts on X, formerly Twitter, drew widespread attention.
“I heard the Senate President was trying to call the collation centre… They were calling me to delete. I said sorry o. You guys have literally just gone against my uncle… I can’t delete anything,” he said.
Davido also said Dangote contacted him during the period.
“Uncle Aliko called me too. I said, ‘Uncle, I’m not deleting until the INEC announcement,’” he stated.
The singer did not suggest that Dangote was involved in the conduct of the election, while the account provided did not include responses from either Akpabio or Dangote to Davido’s claims.
Davido also alleged that enormous sums of money were deployed by political opponents during the election, claiming information available to his camp suggested that about N110 billion in cash had been brought into the state.
“I just confirmed today. They spent N110 billion. I’m coming from somewhere where we had an insider who was sending us… If you see the cash these people brought in,” he alleged.
“If they had gotten away with that election, Nigeria is finished. Because the blueprint for election will now be violence and money.”
The N110 billion figure remains Davido’s allegation and was not independently established in the account of the interview.
Davido contrasted the alleged spending with the strategy adopted by Adeleke’s camp, saying supporters were encouraged to rely on voter turnout, vigilance and public goodwill rather than financial inducement.
“We didn’t spend a dime on election day. All we could do was just pray that these people take their money and vote for us,” he said.
The music star said voters themselves became increasingly determined to defend the electoral process.
“It got to a point where it was the Osun people that were beating the people that were trying to seize ballots. People are tired,” he added.
Davido, who played a highly visible role throughout the governorship contest, used his social media platforms to publish election updates and raise concerns about developments during voting and collation.
He maintained that Adeleke’s victory demonstrated the limits of money and political influence when an incumbent retained strong grassroots support.
“My uncle should be an example to all other government officials and governors. When you stand by the people, the people will stand by you,” Davido said.
The singer’s intervention in Osun politics is rooted in his family’s long political history in the state.
His late uncle, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, popularly known as Serubawon, became Osun’s first civilian governor in 1992, while Ademola Adeleke currently occupies the governorship seat.
Davido’s latest account adds a dramatic dimension to the post-election debate, shifting attention from the public battle at polling units to the private calls and pressures he says unfolded while the results were being collated.
But beyond the celebrity intrigue, his central argument remains political: that the Osun result showed an electorate determined to protect its choice could withstand enormous financial and political pressure.
